Molly Brown first knew she wanted to be a pediatric nurse after visiting Akron Children's Hospital.

She watched the nurses playing with some of the cancer patients and noticed the children began to smile.

"It's something I want to do every day," said Brown, a Walsh University sophomore who's studying nursing.

Now, the 19-year-old from Louisville hopes to win a contest that will help her pursue her dream. Brown will have the chance to compete for $100,000 in tuition assistance from Dr Pepper on Dec. 7 at the Big Ten Championship game in Indianapolis.

Dr Pepper holds an annual tuition giveaway competition and plans to award more than $1 million in scholarships this year, according to its website. Contestants were asked to submit their stories about why they needed the financial assistance and then promote their stories via social media. Those who got at least 50 votes were invited to make minute-long videos.

Brown's video shows her in a hospital setting wearing scrubs and also sporting Walsh apparel and drinking Dr Pepper while she studies. She explains that she's putting herself through college.

"It will change my life so I can change others," she said in the video.

Judges have selected five finalists from four regions to attend college football championship games next week, where the students will compete for the money by trying to throw as many footballs as possible into an oversized can of Dr Pepper. Brown is guaranteed $2,500 just for going.

She got the news that she was heading to the championship game about two weeks ago. A room full of people from Dr Pepper called her and all at once screamed, "You're a finalist!" she said.

"One day, she calls me crying," said her father, Bob Brown, who is traveling to Indianapolis with her. He thought something was wrong, but she was just telling him she'd heard from Dr Pepper. "It's been a kind of real exciting, fun deal."

Since she learned she was a finalist, Molly Brown — who played basketball and volleyball in high school — has been practicing every day. The football coaches at Walsh gave her new balls, and her neighbor made her a big can to throw them into. Her dad comes over to the university to help her.

Brown said she's working between 10 and 12 hours a week while attending school full time and has several student loans.

"It would be so nice to be out of debt," she said. "It would release a lot of stress off my shoulders."